In 1821 a state veterinary school was founded in Utrecht. Almost a century later, in 1918, the school acquired the status of an institution of higher learning and in 1925 it was incorporated into the State University of Utrecht and thereby became the first and until to date the only Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in the Netherlands. Utrecht University, founded in 1636, is one of the 14 universities in the Netherlands. The faculty of Veterinary Medicine is now one of the 6 faculties of Utrecht University and is located at campus site De Uithof just outside the city of Utrecht. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is housed in modern and spacious buildings on a total surface of 60.000 m).

Organisation and staff

The faculty encompasses 8 departments with specialized facilities, a Faculty Office and a number of general services (e.g. leaning environment with audiovisual units and the library, pharmacy, experimental farms, museum, student computer rooms etc). The faculty has an academic staff of 418 fte, including 32 full professors and an administrative and support staff of 484 fte. Most staff members can communicate well in English and most lecturers have experience in teaching veterinary medicine in the English language.

Veterinary education

Admission of students to the 6-year veterinary training programme (taught in Dutch) is limited to 225 each year, resulting in a total of 1400 students. The veterinary curriculum leads to the ”dierenarts’ degree (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, DVM). In September 2007 the veterinary education under a Bachelor - Master (3+3 years) structure started with the 1st year of the bachelor programme.

Research at the faculty of Veterinary Medicine is the responsibility of the Institute for Veterinary Research (IVR). Research which is conducted as part of the postgraduate master programmes and PhD programme is linked to one of the research programmes of the IVR. The postgraduate master programmes were initiated from 1994 onwards and are now integrated in the postgraduate educational Master of Science programme Veterinary Science.

Quality of education

The faculty of Veterinary Medicine is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) since 1973, the European Association of Establishments of Veterinary Education and the Dutch and Flemish Accreditation Organization.

Information about the admission to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine for foreign students

Special rules apply for the study of Veterinary Medicine. The Dutch Ministry of Education has declared the so-called numerous fixes applicable to the study of Veterinary Medicine. This entails that only a limited amount of students is admitted each year. The number of admission requests largely exceeds the number of allocations. Those restrictions affect both Dutch and foreign students. The available places are assigned by selection through interviews or drawing lots.

Application and Drawing Lots

Each year the minister of Education and Science determines the number of students that can be admitted to the study of Veterinary Medicine. At this moment the number is 225. In order to take part in the lottery for placement, you need to complete an application form via Internet (start with website: www.uu.nl) and send this in
before May 15th.

If you do not apply you cannot participate in drawing lots.

Foreign diplomas

Foreign diplomas have to be evaluated and compared with the Dutch equivalent diplomas. This evaluation takes time and can result in the fact that you have to take supplementary exams before being accepted for the lottery. Information about the evaluation of your diplomas can be obtained at:

If the result of the lottery is favorable, then - prior to admission to the study of Veterinary Medicine - you have to prove your (sufficient) knowledge of the Dutch language. This is a requirement under the Dutch law because the education is in the Dutch language. The owner of a foreign diploma therefore has to pass the exam “Dutch as Second Language program 2” (Staatsexamen Nederlands als Tweede Taal, programma 2) before being admitted.